1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to light sources and, more specifically, to multicolor light-emitting diodes.
2. Background Discussion
Many electronic components, devices and/or systems utilize light sources. The light sources may be used for various purposes such as providing light for room lighting, better visibility, decoration, indicators, imaging and so on. Depending on the use, the light source may vary and may be any of fluorescent, halogen, incandescent, mercury vapor, high pressure and low pressure sodium lights, as well as light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), organic light emitting diodes (“OLEDs”) and so on.
Light sources may often be used interchangeably; some light sources have similar operating requirements such as power, space and so on. Although various light sources may be used for the same application, one light source may be more appropriate in a given application than another. For example, although a halogen light may adequately light a house, a fluorescent light may be better in certain respects due to thermal energy constraints and lifetime performance requirements.
In some circumstances, a system may be designed to use a particular type of light source, but improvements for the chosen light source such as power efficiency and/or increased light intensity may be desirable. For example, although LEDs may produce relatively efficient light when compared to fluorescent or incandescent lights, they are also often less intense. Typically, LEDs require less power to create the same intensity as another light source and thus may be more power efficient. Because their power efficiency, LEDs are frequently used in a variety of lighting systems, from computing devices to traffic lights. Oftentimes, LEDs are used in computing devices as indicators, backlights, status lights and so on. In many LED applications, high intensity output may be useful to increase or enhance viewing. This may be true not only of the aforementioned uses, but also in LED-lighted televisions, flashlights, and many other devices.